The Census as Economic Stimulus a la Wal*Mart

Just a quick shout out to our cyclical friends in the US government: the Census Bureau. Apparently droves (read: tens of thousands) of folks are needed for part-time, short-term (~10 week) work starting now and running through 2010. The pay is more than unemployment ($8-$19/hour), and beats sitting at home watching reruns of the shopping channels.

If you're unemployed, get to a testing center and take the (brain-dead) test. 28 questions, and "passing," in true Amerikan tradition, is 10 questions. But don't worry: if you're a military vet you only need to get five questions right. Disabled vet? Hand it in blank and you still pass. (I'm not criticizing military service; I'm decrying ridiculously low passing bars.)

If you think it's a dead-end job, try this thought on for size: it's an opportunity for you to stretch your legs, meet neighbors and other folks, and get a little perspective on where our country is at in the year 2010.

I'm a bit more selfish than that: aside from the (duh!) money, it's a way for me to meet folks I'd never otherwise interact with, and build my memory library of characters from which to draw on when writing. But that's another blog, and another persona.

Go! Do something!